An Unusual Competitor
by Virtual Rose
Summary: Life is going as normal as life can be for Naru at the office. He drinks tea, teases Mai, drinks more tea, reviews potential cases, teases Mai and drinks more tea. His father visiting shouldn't be more than a small blip in the normal routine, but "shouldn't" isn't the same as "isn't."
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Ghost Hunt**

The first time Martin Davis met Taniyama Mai, he thought her spunky and cute but hardly the kind of person he would have assumed Noll to associate with. Luella would love her though. His excuse for being in Japan was to survey the functionality and success of the JSPR when in reality he was there to visit is only remaining son. Unfortunately his wife was unable to come with him due to a charity event she was organizing.

That being said when he walked through the door of SPR on a lovely Saturday in spring he was greeted with a cheerful door chime and an equally cheerful "Hello"- in Japanese of course. Having been expecting my arrival Noll appeared behind his assistant and ushered me into his office with a curt nod and "Father." Only to be followed with "Mai, tea."

The girl amusingly grouched at Noll but gave Martin her dazzling smile and asked him politely if he would like any as well. To which he declined, not needing the caffeine boost with his jetlag then set about a preliminary discussion about the business side of his visit. It was decided that Martin would stay and observe them until the completion of a case.

The next morning was a saturday and Martin arrived bright and early with a steaming thermos of earl gray and a briefcase with all of the office away from office supplies he could need.

"Good Morning Noll," Martin greeted his son cheerfully. "Morning Lin."

"Professor," Lin acknowledged with an incline of the head before retreating to his office.

"Father," Noll stood in his office doorframe with his hands in his pocket looking like the definition of stoicism. "We have two scheduled clients today, one at 10:30 and the other at 2:15. You may use whatever space you feel most comfortable in to work." He then pointed over to one of the desks in the front of the main room. "Yasuhara is taking vacation leave so his desk is free if you wish to use that."

"When does your other assistant arrive?" Martin asked, a little curious. He didn't expect to allow an employee to have mornings off on the weekend.

"In approximately one two three minutes depending on if she trips on the sidewalk maintenance outside or if the shop owner below us opens on time," Noll obviously didn't see anything strange about this information like his father seemed too as they stared at each other. Martin sat with a confused look on his face as he looked at his son.

And as if on cue the door jingled and the russet haired girl came in panting as if she just ran the whole way here.

"Mai, you're 6 minutes late," Noll said, diverting his attention from his father to the girl and crossed his arms.

"Sorry Naru, I ended up helping Mrs. Haru down stairs with her trash," she said when she regained her breath. She looked up at Noll.

"Mai, I don't pay you to take Mrs. Haru's trash out," Noll hashed, turning towards his office. "Mai, tea," he said finally walking into his office with a satisfied smirk on his face

The girl, Martin noted, gave an indignant huff and stuck her tongue out at Noll behind his back before storming off to the kitchen leaving the older gentleman at a bit of a loss. He found his son's behaviour contrary to what he was used to. He knew that Noll was fond of tea but over the course of the day he seemed to call Mai for tea around every 45 minutes. It was excessive even for Noll. Each time he called the girl would storm out of his office muttering angrily to herself. He couldn't help but observe that his son's behavior seemed deliberate; like he enjoyed making the girl mad.

Martin didn't end up taking the girl's offer for tea until the first client came. She didn't even ask him - just placed tea cups down in front of everyone in the room. He noted that Noll didn't really start the interview until after he had taken a sip of the tea and the slightly hysterical client took one as well. The effect was immediate, the older woman's shoulders relaxed and the tightness around her brows loosened.

While listening to the woman regale us with instances of knocking sounds and flickering lights Martin took a sip of the tea he had been handed. He was swept up in the aroma and taste. It had a rich robust flavor of the black tea with bergamot oil, a soothing note of lavender and a strong, but not overpowering, hint of sweet apple that rounded out the bitterness of the bergamot.

It wasn't until he had finished his tea did he atune himself to the interview. Unfortunately for him he only caught the end.

"I'll have my assistant refer you to an electrician and a plumber. If you the disturbances do not cease afterwards you know how to contact us."

The woman, although obviously not please with the outcome of the interview accepted the card Mai handed her with their referrals. She left with a half hearted "thank you" and Mai saw her out graciously.

As soon as the door closed Noll called for tea. This time Martin made sure she included him.

 **I don't know where this idea came from but I hope you enjoy the first part of it.**

 **For those of you who are reading What Can't Be Unseen. Don't worry I'm still gonna finish it.**

 **Please let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Naru did not accept any cases until three days after Martin arrived. In that time the demand for tea nearly overwhelmed Mai and she had resorted to leaving a pot of tea on both Naru's desk and his father's temporary work space. In this way she was actually able to do her filing and other secretarial duties. Although she spent quite a deal of her office hours chatting to the older gentleman and Naru could often hear them laughing together.

Although Naru didn't like this change in protocol, he bore with it so long as they were within the acceptable concessions he had to make to accommodate his guest. Even if it meant that with the less frequent tea trips he had to cut back on annoying his assistant, he knew things would be back to normal in a couple of weeks, tops. It wasn't until the case started did Naru feel that his father being there was truly hindering anything.

The case itself was simple, it only took four nights and five days for them to wrap up, but the ghost's proved to have a very bloody past and were eager to share it. And Mai, being the ghost magnet she is, was chosen to be the spirit's main audience. Her dreams became so bad that she stopped sleeping entirely after the first night and the ghost would seek her out more actively and cause her to pass out with visions at the most random moments.

The problem wasn't that Mai was suffering- although, that wasn't good either- it was that Martin always arrived to her rescue before him. As a result, Martin was the shoulder she cried on. Martin was the one who brought her tea. Martin was the one who she explained her dreams too.

Naru's frustration lead him to rushing the case a little more than he normally would. The only thing that made it any better was that because Mai needed to be accompanied everywhere, he was able to escort her. Which normally would not be something he would do but he had to do something to makes sure she remembered who was in charge.

The relief it was to return to the office was immense. Especially since Martin had to take the day away from the office. He made sure Mai's tea runs were a little more frequent than normal and to tease her just a smidge more relentlessly. He had to make up for lost time.


	3. Chapter 3

Things at the office had a routine that Lin had grown accustomed to; and although the presence of the Professor didn't disrupt the overall structure of the day it certainly disrupted the energy of the place. Mainly, Noll had an air of tightly controlled tenseness about him. Most people who knew him might not notice a difference but Lin certainly did. He was sure Mai had noticed on some level to.

Altogether it was fine. Noll could handle it until his father left and he could go back to his favorite hobby; teasing Mai like a boy with a schoolyard crush. That is, until 5 days before the Professor's departure day.

It had been a normal enough day at the office and Mai and the Professor had just come back with lunch and they all sat around the coffee table munching on sandwiches. There was idle chatter between her and the Professor and the occasionally Lin or Noll would interject with an opinion, when after a lull in said conversation the Professor asked Mai a question that had tension shoot through Noll like a bolt of lightning.

"Mai dear, would you consider coming to England to work for me at the main branch of SPR? The benefits to you and our office would be very worthwhile I think."

The whole room was staring at him. The tea, in the cup paused halfway to Noll's lips, started boiling. Even though no one noticed except Lin of course it was still quite the reaction from the young man.

"I don't know…" Mai began to say very hesitantly.

"Of course you'd have the benefits of being able to safely explore your growing powers in an controlled environment and of course the BSPR would pay for your University while you are there. Lullea would love it if you came and stayed with us too."

Mai just floundered for a bit while she took in the offer. Noll had yet to move, his hand white on his cup. There was a soft thump from his office where Lin was sure a book "fell" off it's shelf.

"Can...can I have some time to think your offer over?" Mai asked bashfully. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes stared into her own teacup. Lin suddenly felt sorry for the girl. The offer was very tempting for a girl in her position, but her also happened to know that she was very sentimental as well and would be hard pressed to leave her patchwork family here in Japan.

"Certainly my dear! I also expect you'll want to finish up your highschool education here first as well. It is a standing offer when and if you accept it is up to you."

That seemed to relax Mai marginally, but Noll didn't loosen his grip on his cup until he set it down and left for his office space.

When Lin walked passed Nolls office a short time later he noticed the light from under the door flickering faintly as if the desk lamp was faulty.

 **AN: Hey thanks Naruisawesome for letting me know that there was some weird repeating lines in this! I have no clue how that happened but it's fixed now.**

 **Also, a PSA; I suck at updating lol this goes for my other story going to. So if you are following What Can't be Unseen, Its still active I just suck haha. I'll be trying to get it updated in the next couple of weeks so look for it!**


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